Originally Posted by
joejones
But I would disagree with the idea that large corporations don't want to take risks -- they are pretty much the only serious risk takers in Japan, and they do it on a huge scale, often more readily than large corporations in other developed countries. Think electronics companies committing to huge assembly lines during the height of the financial crisis, Nomura buying half of Lehman, etc.
I disagree. Japanese multinationals, with some notable exceptions (e.g. Toshiba) tend to be major-league chicken$h!t companies. In the field I know best, which is electronics, the competition isn't with "large corporations in other developed countries" but with their peers in Korea, Taiwan, and China, and in that regard, these other countries are eating Japan's lunch because they dither, hem and haw, and suck wind through their teeth while the competition keeps cooking along. There are now countless examples of consumer electronics, including TVs and mobile phones, where the Japanese managed to squander a spectacular lead into near irrelevance.